Speculation has it, that the virus situation will be enough to overwhelm the tenuous grip on survival for these beleaguered chains. Is there a thoughtful consensus as to the impact and culpability of the pathogen on their inherent existence ? As a pillar of America's retailing landscape I am unable to dedicate too much of my limited time to these types of message boards, which are often riddled with inane blather and nonsensical chitchat. Therefore I insist that responses be limited to those which provide thought provoking insight in a contrite yet informative manner, while retaining integrity with reputably referential facts. Other responses will be ignored.
19 replies (most recent on top)
Or just a pill
How did you become a pillar ?
There are no more kmarts around chicago, so people around here just say - oh kmart i remember that store - like they might say about wards or zayre or venture. But how would they possibly get the resources to open up shop again ?
@8ets+14FLoac6 MAY start?! They already have been saying that!
The problem is not the pandemic. Kmart was closing stores before the pandemic. They need to start opening new stores to keep relevant in peoples lives, before its too late. People may start thinking "kmart ? Whats that ?"
If Kmart could only get a hold of a bunch of hand sanitizer to sell.............
@3dse+14FLoac6 Even there, they don't have all of those. Our Kmart doesn't have any ice cream nor DVDs. Candy? Beer? Condoms? You can find those at other places.
The virus impact will be severe. But Kmart can make more sales by supplying things that people bored in the house might want - ice cream, candy, DVDs, marital aids, beer, etc.
The OP could have worded his post much simpler without all the added gobblygook....but what else can you expect from a troll.
@dsv+14FLoac6 ah, those engaging 'pathogen' training videos...
Depends if they can make a complete "transformation" to an ONLINE business. Forget the physical stores they are finished.
Kmart is actually kind of busy due to lack of stores open and bored people. Not that the handful of stores can possibly make any money with the little merchandise but hey it's all about foot traffic right?
Sears is far more likely to survive this than JC Penney. As much as Eddie doesn't know retail he kept the money funnel wide open through a decade of losses, he knows how to work markets. He will take out low interest loans to keep the transformation alive until he figures out how to get the most for Kenmore and A&E.
not bad, but i think you mean either "trite" or "concise", not "contrite". But anyway, you make an ok point. the sears / kmart chain will be lucky to survive this, given their previous troubles.
Lmao I love this poster
strangely, this might be the first time that a pathogen will bring down a major retailer.
Lots of retail isn't going to survive this. I can see Macy's and JC Penney get taken down by COVID-19, just like Sears/Kmart will.
This last few months has accelerated newcomers to e commerce to the detriment of brick and mortar stores. The loss of sales of a weak retailer may be enough to end there existence sooner rather than later. Some brick and mortar retailers will continue on successfully, like TJ Max for example.This type of experience cannot be easily replicated on the internet.
Anybody who reads any news whatsoever is painfully aware that it is likely that the virus situation will be enough to overwhelm the tenuous grip on survival for ALL department stores. This is but the last nail in the coffin, the first being Sears allowing Amazon to become Amazon instead of doing it themselves.
I think it's really helped Kmart.